Paving-tile



(No Model.)

P. BRANNIGAN.

PAVING TILE. 1m 378,825. Patented Feb. 28, 1888;

MMM Haw r y mares "Nrrno PATENT (intros.

FELIX BEAN N IGAN, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONEIIALF TO JAMES M. EWING, OF IVHEELING, VEST VIRGINIA.

PAVING TILE.

$PBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,825, dated February 28, 1888.

Application filed February 14, 1887. Serial No. 227,580.

To aZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, FELIX BRANNIGAN, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Paving Tiles and Blocks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention is an improved tile or block for paving streets or sidewalks, gutters, or other surfaces, or for lining sewers, and is also adapted to cover other exposed surfacessuch as aqueducts and reservoirs-as hereinafter explained.

The main object of the invention is to make available for such purposes the waste material of iron-furnaces known as slag! This materialhas qualities fitting it for the purpose lndicated above, it being strong and not affected by atmospheric influences, not liable to become slippery, and being also exceedingly hard.

The objections heretofore experienced in using it for paving and like purposes have been its great weight, which has rendered it so expensive to transport that it has not been able to compete with other materials inferior to it in the qualities named above.

The more particular object of my invention is to reduce the weight of the tile or block without materially impairing the strength,and also to better fit it, by an improved shape, for the purpose for which it is intended.

To this end my invention consists of a block or tile, of the form shown, having a plain or properly-roughened upper or outer surface, and an under or interior surface with arched grooves having slightly-flaring sides, whereby the block is made possible to cast, and light and strong; and as it is used in connection with a cement or equivalent base, this fills the cavities in the under surface and keeps it fixed in place when it has been set.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved block adapted for paving streets or sidewalks. Fig. 2 is a view of the under surface of the same. In making my improved blocks or tiles I take the ordinary iron slag, preferably as it' comes from the furnace in a molten condition,

(No model.)

to save the expense of remelting. The slag in this molten condition is run into molds of the proper size. block or tile is smooth on its upper surface or roughened, as may be required for street-pavements. The surface may be rectangular or of any desired shape. The sides and ends are vertical, and the under surface is formed. with grooves a and ribs 1). The grooves extend deeply. into the body of the block, so that nearly half its body is removed, and they are arched. The sides and ends present faces for abutting against the neighboring blocks as deep as if the blocks or tiles were solid throughout, and the ribs b extend down into the cemcut or concrete in which the tile is laid, form-. ing strengthening-ribs to support the weight or blows which may be brought upon the outer surface. For this purpose the ribs must be made with faces slightly flaring to draw from the mold. At the same time these ribs, being embedded in the cement, hold the blocks or tiles firmly against any lateral movement to rise, and the cement, being forced into the cavities of the tile or block, gives it the strength of a solid body.

I do not limit myself to the proportions shown, as these may be varied from the form of tile shown in Fig. 1.

good size for tiles, and the depth one and onehalf inch. The surface of the tile or block may be roughened or ornamented in any wellknown way. While I prefer to use the iron slag on account of its strength and its freedom I am aware that it is not new to form a tile 5 with parallel channels in its under surface for the passage of steam, &e., and I do not broadly claim this, my invention being limited to a block having its under surface formed in a succession of deep arches with ribs between As shown in Fig. 1, the

The size would preferably be ten inches each wa which is a 801% k The form of block shown is adapted to 0 the arches, the sides of the ribs being inclined In testimony whereof I have signed my name :0

or flaring, so as to permit of their removal to this specification in the presence of two subfrom the mold. scribing witnesses.

I claim as my invention 5 A new article of manufacture consisting of FELIX BRANNIGAN.

a tile formed of iron slag with ribs on its under surface, with arched grooves between the Witnesses:

ribs, the sides of the grooves being slightly JAs.'M. EWING,

flaring outward, substantially as described. F. L. MIDDLETON. 

